Alchemists, Be Thou For Thy Girlfriend
by Jayrunner
Summary: Ed and Winry have liked each other for a long time. And now they get the chance to show it. Rated M for just about everything that makes a story mature. Please read, review, and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright, I've finally got a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic that I feel like working on. Please sit back and enjoy, knowing that the large multitude of character switches are actually quite helpful in my story telling.**

**Please enjoy!**

// CHaPTeR oNe //

Winry tightened a bolt on the new automail arm she was creating, hoping to finish the piece by morning. She wiped the grease off of her cheeks wearily, gazing at the hunk of metal that she had prepared for Ed to use in advance. She'd had a strange feeling for almost a week now, as if a stranger was coming steadily closer to her house with uncomfortable news. Not bad news, just uncomfortable, awkward news. The feeling that, for almost a year now, had heralded the arrival of Ed and Al whenever they needed a mechanic. It was a strange sensation, but she knew that it was dead-on. Ed had wrecked his arm or leg, probably his arm again, and needed a replacement. She was ready. She'd finished making his leg three nights before, and had started in on his arm near midnight. The piece would take at least a few hours to finish, but at least she wouldn't have to work so hard while the two were actually there. She could merely enjoy their company, fix Ed's arm, and get back to her routines. Spreading her work over the week had given her more time to sleep and help Granny Pinako with the other customers.

She felt awfully tired now. The arm was almost done and only needed a few adjustments before she could put away her work. A few bolts to tighten, several cables to attach, and she would be ready for Ed and Al. She heaved a sigh, releasing her breath in a huge gush, and set back to work. She had managed to fix the two misbehaving cables and their placement until they worked like normal before she was overcome with the urge to yawn. She held it back, clenching her teeth against the impulse. Ed's automail was more important right now.

Winry worked like a robot for another hour more, finishing her adjustments and then looking over the overall quality. She'd changed the metals around a bit, so it would be light but just as strong. She sighed, pleased with herself, and turned off her work light. She had a very good feeling that made her believe that she had been smart in working ahead, that Ed and Al would be with her soon.

X X X

Winry lay in the grass, looking up at the clouds. They were so puffy and white today, like they were enjoying the weather. There were footsteps behind her, several yards away. Winry sat up and turned around to see who could be intruding on her pleasant day. At first she couldn't recognize the figure who stood before her, the man with golden hair and eyes. Her eyes widened a fraction and her pulse sped when her mind finally placed the identity of the figure: it was Ed.

Suddenly Winry was laying the grass again, pinned down by the playful Ed. He wasn't the same Ed she had remembered, short and hardened by all that he'd seen. His face, inches in front of her own, was smiling, his eyes bright and clear as if they had never seen anything bad. And the right arm that held down her left wrist was pure, human flesh.

For a second, Winry was shocked and excited. Ed had gotten his arm back, so he must have gotten his leg and Al's body back as well. Then she was overcome with a sudden sense of normalcy. Of course Ed had gotten his limbs back and recovered Al's body. They had promised that they would.

Ed moved his face closer to Winry's, brushing the tip of his nose against hers. Winry's pulse rocketed, and she felt her face turning bright red. Ed smiled gently, closed his eyes and leaned in closer . . .

"Winry, come down here! Are most valued customers are here."

Winry sat up straight in her bed, panting. Her dream had been so real. Ed had been with her. He'd been about to kiss her. Heat flooded Winry's cheeks, and she shook her head to clear it. Of course it had been a dream. She tried to reassure herself that it was just her way of worrying about Ed. "Then why didn't you dream about Al too?" her mind whispered. Winry shook her head violently, forcing the memory out of her mind. She hopped out of her bed and changed into her normal clothes. If only Ed and Al could have come just a little later, she could have gotten the dream firmly out of her mind.

The door to her room shook slightly as someone knocked on it. Winry made a noise of affirmation, searching around for her screwdriver and wrench. The door opened, and someone walked into the room. Someone who's footsteps where heavier than Pinako's.

Winry glanced over her shoulder as she turned to snatch up her wrench from a pile of various tools. She felt a slight warmth spread up her neck as she recognized the shortie with the blond hair. There was something off about him, as if something was missing from him. In her short glance Winry had affirmed that his arm was almost completely gone and he was shifting anxiously from foot to foot. He look almost slanted, as if he were standing with one foot raised on his toes and the other flat. it was a rather strange sight.

"Hey, Ed," she sighed, digging through a pile of unfinished automail in search of her trusty screwdriver. "Hey, Winry," he replied behind her, sounding nervous. Winry frowned a little, trying to will her small blush away. With a little effort the unnatural warmth receded from her face.

"Don't tell me: you wrecked your arm," she accused, glad that she'd managed to finish his new arm the night before. When Ed didn't reply she merely sighed and shook her head. His new arm, gleaming and glorious, was waiting on her desk, right in front of him. She smiled to herself, picked it up, and turned around. She allowed herself the satisfaction of watching Ed's face as he registered that the arm was, in fact, his.

"Win, you already had it made?" Ed asked, stunned. She nodded triumphantly. "And, since I've been working on it and your leg replacement for the past week, you owe me twenty thousand sens extra." Ed's surprised face darkened into a comically nervous expression. Winry resisted the urge to giggle, beckoning Ed over to her work station to work on sizing.

Winry measured Ed's arm and compared the lengths to the one she'd made. They were almost identical in lengths, and it wouldn't need any adjustment. Then she measured his left leg, smugly noting that it was at least an inch too short. She could up the cost of his maintenance for a new leg.

Ed objected when he saw Winry pulling out the whole new leg from her cabinet. "Win, I just need an adjustment. You didn't have to completely rebuild it. That must've taken you at least three days to build!" Winry thrust the leg into his arm so she could search for the appropriate screws for attaching his new leg.

"Actually, I did have to. Don't worry, I won't charge you too much for it." She held a screw up to examine the tag, ensuring that it was the right size. "I remade your arm and leg out of different materials." Ed stared at the wall, clearly spacing out. "Ed! Listen to what I'm saying, or you'll freak out later!" Ed's eyes snapped onto her own for a split second, and then he looked away, cheeks reddening.

"I'm listening," he told her, hefting the automail into a better position.

"I changed the materials in both your arm and leg. They are lighter than the ones you've been using, like the northern automail. They are just as strong as you're used to, but they will still break. You'll be faster, and you should grow faster, but since you're faster you might hit things a lot harder. That means that even though the strength is the same they will break easier. You have to be careful. Okay?" Winry stared at Ed, hard, until he turned to lock eyes with her again. He sighed and nodded.

"Okay then!" Winry said, clapping her hands together. "Let's change out your automail. Go downstairs and wait, I need to get the rest of my stuff ready." Her face turned mischievous. "Then I get to attach all your nerves again."

Ed shivered, but obeyed and left her room. He was walking with a slight limp and at an odd angle. He really had grown. Winry'd adjusted his leg the last time he'd been in for maintenance, just a little over a month ago. Winry smiled, gathering up her supplies. He was growing up.

X X X

"Ow!" Ed complained. Winry, shocked out of her reverie, looked down at Ed's right arm. She'd already put it into place and connected the nerves, and then she'd spaced out tightening the bolts and securing the cables of his shoulder. Where the automail port connected to his collarbone there was a thin line were blood was trickling over the metal. Winry put her hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Gomene!" she told him, wondering how she'd managed to cut him. Oh, yeah. She'd been tightening the bolt and her screwdriver had slipped during her daydream. The cut was thin but looked fairly deep, as if she'd stabbed into him involuntarily. She wiped the blood away with a finger and hurried into the kitchen for something to bandage the little wound until it stopped bleeding. She wouldn't be able to work distracted by an open wound, and if she let the blood dry on the metal it would probably rust.

"Brother, what happened?" Al wondered, moving closer to examine the cut. Ed wiggled the fingers in his right hand, getting acquainted with the new nerves of the automail. He glanced up to look at his brother, still feeling a shock to see his brown eyes and light brown hair. Ever since they'd gone and got Al's body back Ed still expected to see the suit of armor his brother had been.

"Nothing, just a cut. I guess even Winry can't focus on work all the time," Ed replied, glancing curiously towards the kitchen. He smiled to himself, pleased with the thought. "Wonder what she was thinking about," he added.

In the kitchen, Winry was taking her time finding a bandage. She was busy thinking, thinking about her daydream and the brothers, and the implications of her mental wandering. Fixing Ed's automail had made her wonder. If they'd managed to dredge up Al's mind and body from the gate, why hadn't they gotten Ed's arm and leg back? Had Ed even wanted to get his arm and leg back? Thinking of that had reminded her of her dream the night before, of the strange Edward in the sunny field, and then her mind had mixed the dream with her wonderings and come to a strange conclusion: Ed had decided against getting his arm and leg back so that he had an excuse to come back and see Winry. That had lead to her daydreaming, and then she'd been wondering about what would have come next in her dream, had she not woken up.

Winry blushed deeply, trying to banish the thoughts from her head. She didn't want to get distracted anymore. Against her will her mind thrust an image into her mind: Ed, in her room, blushing and trying not to meet her gaze for too long. _See?_ It seemed to say. Winry shook her head wildly, tapping her fists to her temples. When she felt a little more focused she reached into the cabinet and pulled out the roll of bandages from the first shelf.

She nearly crashed into Al on her way back to Ed. He took a step back in surprise and smiled apologetically. Winry smiled back, trying to use Alphonse's face as a way to banish the thoughts of Ed from her head.

"Sorry, Winry. I wanted to make sure you were all right," Al explained. "You were taking so long I thought you might have been buried by kitchen supplies," he added, snickering.

"Sorry to worry you," she replied, smiling. "I was lost in thought." Al smiled knowingly. He leaned in closer and whispered into Winry's ear,

"Thinking of Brother?"

Winry snatched the wrench from her belt and hit him sharply on the head. Al rubbed the new bump forming on his skull, laughing at himself. "I guess I set myself up for that," he muttered. Winry stuffed her wrench back into her belt, blushing violently. He'd been spot on.

"Don't talk like that, Al," she murmured, too low for Ed to hear in the other room. "We're just friends." Al looked up in surprise at the sadness and strain in her voice. She slid her eyes over to meet Al's gaze evenly, blue blazing into brown. "Say a word to Ed and I'll beat you with my wrench," she warned. Al's eyes widened and he backed up, nodding fearfully. Winry visibly brightened, smiled at Al, and continued on to fix Ed.

A little over an hour of silence later, Ed's new arm and leg were attached and he was hopping around with wide eyes.

"Wow, Winry, you really made it lighter. What'd you use this time?" he wondered out loud, jumping over a stool with a look of amazement on his face.

"I'm not going to tell you," she replied, putting away her materials. "If I told you you'd transmute it into weird things and end up breaking it."

"But then I can't fight back if we get in trouble!" he yelled, stopping his rapid movement to stare at her in astonishment. "It takes more time to transmute a weapon out of the ground than my arm. And what if-"

"Shut up, please, and let me explain. There's a layer of the old material on the forearm so that you can transmute _that_. This way you can't change the whole thing. If you want to find out the chemicals in the rest, do it yourself. This time it really is my best work, and I don't want you ruining it. Change the outer layer back to normal when you finish a fight, too, or else it's liable to detach from the rest of the arm. Or at least make sure that you strengthen the attachment every once in a while. Okay?"

Ed stared at her, dumbfounded, and then his eyes turned to his new arm. There was a wide band of dark metal down the forearm, as she had said, and the rest was paler, almost blue tinted. He clapped his hands together and ran his left hand over the lower half of the arm. Only the band of dark metal changed shape, while the pale blue metal remained unchanged.

"Amazing. You're a real genius, Winry." He re-transmuted the metal, bending it back to its original shape, and the metal slid a little on the edges, rooting itself in the rest of the arm. He smiled at the metal, his mind spinning as he thought of multiple ways to transmute it to his advantage. With only a portion of his arm as material he couldn't make anything big or elaborate. He would probably only be able to make his normal weapon, not anything useful in a long-range fight.

Escaping Ed's praise, Winry left the room and moved up the stairs to her room. She smiled to herself as she closed the door softly with a click. Her room, her haven, her workplace, familiar and spread out in front of her, was not the place she wanted to be at the moment. She could only be with the foolish brothers every once in a while, and leaving them for even a little bit was time wasted. She wanted to be with them, but she needed to do something first.

X X X

Ed sat on the roof, admiring the stars. It had been so much easier to climb up the side of the Rockbell house with his new limbs. He was amazed at how light he felt. The northern automail had been light like this, but he hadn't used it in a while. It hadn't been of good use in hot, southern places where the joint stiffened up and the reactions were slower. And it had been almost a year since he'd changed out of the stuff, in preference of Winry's traditional automail. It felt good to be light as air.

There was an odd sound off to his left, the sound of a transmutation, and a ladder appeared at the edge of the roof. Ed ignored it, and the head that appeared over it a few seconds later, choosing to enjoy the rural night before they raced back to Central.

"Brother," Al murmured, knowing full well that Ed could hear him. Ed pretended not to notice his younger brother.

"Brother?" Al called, a little louder, wondering if Ed was very lost in thought. No response.

"Ed!" he snapped, calling his brother's attention with the out-of-character use of his name.

"What is it, Al?" Ed replied, closing his eyes.

"Brother, Winry wants you," he told him. Ed's cheeks flushed a little at the choice of words, but he knew what his brother meant. He waited, opening his eyes to stare pointedly at Al, urging him to continue.

"She said she has something to say to you before we left," he sighed, dropping from view with a parting, "You should see her."

Ed grinned, finding his younger brother oddly funny at the moment. He laid back on the roof, folding his arms under his head. He would wait. If Winry really wanted to talk to him, she'd come out for him herself, maybe even climb all the way up to the roof to talk with him.

He closed his eyes, reveling in the peace of the countryside. Resembool was such a quiet place, so different from the busy cities where Ed and Al always were. You could stand outside and not hear a thing besides the wind, the livestock, and the crickets. You could see the stars, too, because there were no city lights to block out the glow. And the air was clean and fresh, nothing like the smell of civilization, cars and factories and oil. The countryside was preferable.

Yes. Ed liked the countryside more than the city. He liked it a lot. And the people in countryside towns were always so much better. Ed would rather be with Winry and Pinako over Mustang or the homunculus any day.

X X X

Winry sat in her room, waiting.

Al had delivered her message and then slipped away, probably to visit his mother's grave. She welcomed the privacy, hoping to be able to get something out in the open between her and Ed. Anything that would help her, make it easier to be around him. She fidgeted with her screwdriver, running her fingers over the grooves in the handle and switching it from palm to palm.

She waited.

She glanced out the window at the clear night sky, wondering at the stars and the moon and the science of it all. Ed and Al would understand how the stars made light, and how that light reached them from so far away, and how the cities were able to hide the stars. It was all a mystery to Winry.

She waited.

Granny was over at Nelly's house, doing adjustments to her father's leg. She had said she would be awhile, because the metal was old and might need replacing. She'd promised to be back in the morning, at the earliest, leaving the house empty. Winry sighed. Ed could be so oblivious. They were the only two in the house and they never got to see each other, and he was spending that time sitting on the roof, completely ignoring her. Winry felt the tip of her screwdriver twist into her palm, biting her flesh. She ripped her hand away, glaring at the angry red line left from the pressure of the metal. She wasn't mad at the screwdriver. She was mad at Ed, for being so stupid and so blind.

She was tired of waiting.

Winry got up from her bed, hand clenched around the handle of her screwdriver. She tucked it into her pocket, hoping she wouldn't use it to mutilate Ed or his automail when she finally got to him. Instead she clenched her fists, knowing that she could use him to hit Ed all she wanted without doing any damage to her work. She let the corner of her lip turn up ever so slightly at the thought of bashing Ed with her fists.

Winry trotted down the stairs, hopping from step to step on her toes, her stomach knotting and clenching at the single thought that had it's grip around her brain: she was going to see Ed, even if she was angry at him, and they were very alone.

Outside, on the side of the house, there was a ladder. She smiled, knowing that Ed wouldn't have made a ladder that would be this easy to climb. It was Al's doing. He'd sculpted the flat, broad panels with grooves to climb up on, and added small places where she could grip it more easily. She sent a silent thanks to Al, grabbing onto the rail and beginning the climb.

She reached the top in seconds, peeking over the edge of the roof to glare at Ed. He was laying on his back, looking up at the sky with a contented look on his face. Winry bit her lip, not wanting to pull him out of his peaceful mood, but decided she had to continue if she was ever going to have any peace of mind.

"Ed--" she began just as Ed said, "Winry--"

The two stopped and waited for the other to continue. Ed glanced at Winry, nervous energy flickering in his eyes. Winry found that she had to look away from his eyes every few seconds. They were like the sun; bright and golden, and you knew not to stare at them too long. But Winry couldn't resist looking back at them, fascinated.

Ed motioned to Winry with his automail hand, signaling for her to go first. Winry took a deep breath and crawled the rest of the way onto the roof. Ed rose into a sitting position, watching her carefully in case she lost her balance. Winry pretended that she didn't notice the caring look in his eyes as she crept across the shingles on her hands and knees. She stopped to sit down next to Ed, her heart beating very fast in anticipation of what she was going to do.

"Ed," she started again, glancing up to meet his gaze. He looked clueless as to what was going on, but a little nervous as if he were afraid that she would hit him. Winry took a deep breath before continuing in one quick breath:

"Ed, how do you think of me?"

Ed stared at her with wide eyes, his cheeks slowly staining darker in the moonlight. Winry watched, pleased with his reaction. She felt the need to continue, to verify what she was trying to say.

"Do you think of me as just a friend or . . . ?" she explained, trying to coax a better reaction from Ed.

"I . . . " Ed said, biting his lip. He'd never really thought about it too deeply. He'd set his sights on getting his and Al's bodies back for years, had been a dog of the military for fives long years. Now that his brother's body was returned, he didn't really have any goals. The Gate had told him that his limbs were no longer in a state that he could get them back, so there was no point in attempting it, and there was no way to bring his mother back, so there was nothing left for him to set his sights on. But now that he didn't have anything to do, why not . . . ?

"I don't really know, Win," he told her, lifting his arm to wrap it around her shoulder. Winry shivered at the touch of cold metal on her skin, but she snuggled closer to Ed to compensate. He felt very warm next to her, and didn't feel stiff or tense at her closeness.

"What do you mean?" she murmured. They were seventeen now, for crying out loud. If he hadn't figured out his feelings for her yet, then he didn't have any.

"I don't know what it is," he told her. "I don't think of you the way I think about Al or Sheska or any of my other friends, but I don't really know what it is," he said truthfully.

Winry thought for a moment. Edward had always been so absorbed in his travels, that maybe he'd never had time to recognize his feeling, she soothed herself. Maybe he just didn't know what falling in love felt like.

"True or false," she said after a moment, "when you're near me your stomach tingles."

"True," Ed replied, smirking.

"True or false, your stomach is tingling right now."

"True."

"True or false, that has happened with someone else."

"True," he sighed. Winry stiffened.

"Who?"

"A few girls we met, but don't get your wrench out. We never saw them for more than a few days total. Calm down, Win," he added, noticing the tension in her body. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"True or false," she continued, her body relaxing. "You want to just sit here with me for awhile, just the two of us."

Ed paused, trying to decide how to answer: truthfully, to please Winry, or not, to save himself from embarrassment later in front of Al. If he lied Mustang wouldn't have anything to tease him about later.

"True," he whispered, leaning his head over to rest it on top of Winry's head.

Winry's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Ed to answer at all, or to deny it. She smiled softly, leaning closer to Ed happily. She felt like she could just explode, random as it was. She hadn't expected Ed to be so forward. She'd planned on Ed saying something about he felt more towards her than was normal, and then their relationship to grow slowly closer. She was glowing.

Then a figure appeared, moving closer from the direction of the graveyard. Al was coming back.

Winry sighed, wrapping her arms firmly around Ed's torso. She was not going to let him forget what he'd said, no matter the costs. Ed replied with a small murmur of contentment, tightening his arm around her shoulders.

Ed watched his younger brother moving closer to the house, his mind racing. He bit his lip, trying to decide on something without being too obvious about it. Winry didn't seem to notice his hurried thinking, just hugging him and smiling softly. Ed took a deep breath, and came to a decision.

Ed removed Winry's hands from where they clamped around his torso. She glanced up at him, her expression hurt, so he moved quickly. He moved Winry onto her back, turning so that he knelt over her. Winry's eyes were wide as she watched Ed take both of her wrists in one hand and move them over her head. He stroked her hair off of her face, his emotions warring in his eyes. Something in Winry's expression pushed him into a final decision, and he moved in swiftly, pressing his lips to Winry's.

Winry gasped, her mouth working against Ed's. His fingers loosened from her wrists, and she pulled her hands free to wrap them around Ed's neck. She kissed him back passionately, years of bottled up love and frustration showing itself in this one moment. Ed returned her passion a little awkwardly, his emotions still only partly sifted through. Something clicked in his mind as he knelt there, the girl he loved whispering his name as she kissed him, and he understood what she'd been asking for the past few minutes. He finally got it that she'd been asking if he loved her. And he finally realized that, in the most turnabout way, he'd told her that he had.

"I love you, Ed," Winry whispered. Ed just smiled, pulled his lips to her ear, and whispered quietly,

"That's nothing compared to how much I love you."

X X X

When Granny Pinako arrived home in the morning, she found Al sitting a stool in the kitchen, reading a book with a very huge grin on his face, and Winry and Ed sitting in the living room, eyes only for each other. And she knew that all was finally right with the world.

X X X

**A/N: No, this is not a oneshot romance! There will be more chapters, I don't know when, but there will be! I have a nice, long story mapped out for these two! It may take me a while, considering I'm writing two other fanfics as well as my own novel, but I will get more chapters of this up.**

**Since people asked, I'm going to explain what the Japanese means. Gomene means "sorry." The other chapters have Japanese as well, but I'll translate at the bottom just for you guys.**

**Yes, I am aware that the whole roof scene was so cheesy and stupid that I just want to rip it out of the story and replace it, but this is just how it played out in my mind. Not quite as cheesy, but still a true-or-false thing on the roof ending with a kiss. Deal with it. The rest of the story will undoubtedly be much better. No more bad writing on my part (hopefully).**

**Ja ne!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello! Time for the new installment in my lovely little fanfic. I apologize for the uber-fluff in the super cheesy first chapter. You've gotta remember, it's their first love and they finally get to confess after about five years. I hope the rest comes out much less bull and more, er, goodness . . . Anyway, enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING except for these tidbits of gooey fanfic-yness.**

X X X

_One month has passed_. . .

"Al, have you seen your brother?" Winry called down the stairs, casting about for traces of Ed's presence.

"I think he went to visit Mom's grave," Al's voice replied from the kitchen. Winry smiled faintly; Ed had been much less sad when talking about his mother. Not happier, just much less sad. She couldn't help but optimistically hope that that was thanks to her, though a small voice in the back of her mind whispered that it might be because he'd managed to restore his younger brother's body.

"You could go up there and see your parents sometime too, Winry," Alphonse continued. Winry grimaced. She was a little afraid to go up there and confront her parents' graves. She wasn't as strong as the brothers, and she was worried that she might break down.

"You could go with Ed," Al suggested, his voice farther away. A door banged, telling Winry that Al had escaped to give her some time alone with her thoughts.

Ever since that night on the roof, Ed had stayed very close to Winry. When she worked he hovered on the edge of the room or drew close to watch, whether he was watching her or just her work Winry did not know. When she cooked Ed would sit in the kitchen, occasionally testing her work. He would tell her everything that he found wrong with it, sounding as if nothing had changed between the two, but Winry knew better. He almost never let her out of his sight, except to sleep, piss, shower, and visit his mother's grave. Winry always felt his protective eyes on her.

But despite the sudden closeness, nothing had advanced romantically between the two. Besides that one over-passionate kiss, nothing had happened. Winry sometimes wanted to reach out and hold his hand, when he was close enough, or pull him into a hug. But she never did, because she was afraid to scare him away.

Winry sighed and moved into her bedroom, heading out for the balcony. Outside she felt the cool evening breeze stir her hair, the dying rays of the sun warming her face, and saw a figure in a red jacket coming hurriedly down the road from the graveyard. She was reminded of the night on the roof, watching Al come home, but quickly brushed that thought away at the thought of Ed coming home.

Winry settled down into a chair, waiting, knowing that Ed would come to her quickly.

X X X

Ed hurried down the drive, panting. He'd run back from his mother's grave as soon as he'd set down his handful of flowers and whispered several words to the headstone. He was out of breath, but not really caring. He could go back and see Winry sooner if he moved faster. He wanted to be close to her, even if it was just hovering at the edges of the room while she worked. He loved being near Winry.

A figure stood in the middle of the road, and Ed slowed, squinting to make out a face against the harsh glare of the setting sun. It was Al, standing there with a funny expression of both anger and bewilderment, and it made Ed's pulse race. He could only imagine what Al wanted to yell at him.

"Brother, what did you tell Winry?" he asked as soon as Ed came to a stop several feet away. Ed paused, trying to figure out what Al had asked, and then recognition glimmered in his eyes.

"You mean that night that you went to mom's grave," he stated. Al nodded. Ed pushed his bangs back with his right hand as a distraction, then sighed.

"Nothing, Al," he murmured, remembering very vividly him and Winry on the roof. He remembered the way she smelled perfectly, the way her skin felt.

"You said something to her, Brother, or she wouldn't be so mopey!" Al complained, sounding again like the eleven year old that he'd been when they first tried human transmutation. Ed blinked in surprise. Winry hadn't seemed any different to him in the month that they'd stayed in Resimbool. Had she said something to Al?

"Mopey?" Ed asked, one eyebrow raised. Al shook his head wildly.

"She's been fidgeting and muttering a lot lately, and when you went to see Mom she started moping in her room. You said something to her, Brother, or she wouldn't be acting like this." Ed looked away.

"Brother, you love Winry, right?" Al asked, his voice quiet. Ed's gaze returned to his brother, but he didn't answer. "Well, she loves you too. You know that, right?" Al took a step closer to his brother, trying to read his expression. Ed took a deep breath before answering.

"That's what I said to her. I told her I loved her," Ed breathed. Al's eyes lit up gleefully. "You did?" Ed nodded, letting out a sigh with a bit of relief. Al grinned widely.

"Ed, I think she's waiting. You know, for you to make a move."

Ed stared at Al blankly. Ed sometimes forgot that his younger brother was sixteen, had grown up. He shook his head after a second, smirking, and muttered to himself, "I already did."

Al's eyes widened as he caught the whispered words. "You did?" Ed nodded. Al did a small dance inside his head and quickly took Ed's arm. "Come on, then, don't make her wait, Ed!" he said, dragging his older brother towards the house.

"Wait, what?!" Ed gasped. Sure, he had wanted to be back to Winry's side quickly, but he didn't want to have to go because Al wanted him to. And not until he had heard everything the Al planned on saying.

"Ed, come on! Use your head! She's waiting for you to show her that you love her, and she's afraid that you don't feel the same way as you did last month. She thinks that your were just using her, and she doesn't want to try anything with you in case you reject her," Al explained cheerfully, still dragging Ed.

"Al, where did you learn that?' Ed asked slowly, wondering if Winry would have told Al all of that.

"I read about it somewhere," Al answered cautiously.

"You're saying that there's a book about Winry's inner thoughts?" Ed asked skeptically.

"Er, no," Al said slowly, fidgeting.

"Then where did you read it?"

"There was a book I was reading a while back . . . "

"Which book?"

"Okay!" Al exploded. "I was reading one of Winry's romance novels and that's what the girl said to her friend about the guy she liked. Alright?"

"Geez, Al," Ed mumbled, shocked. Al must have been really bored with the rural town if he'd started reading Winry's books.

Al dragged Ed the rest of the way in silence.

When they reached the front door, Ed made as if to bring Al with him, but Al stepped away. "I'll give you two some alone time together," he murmured, turning and heading back down the dirt path, smiling. He would find something to do.

Ed opened the door and stepped through cautiously, expecting a wrench to his head or something from Winry. But she wasn't there. He could hear the creak of floorboards from the second floor; she had to be in her room. Ed sucked in a deep breath and crept towards the stairs.

When he arrived in Winry's room he found her sitting on her bed, eyes closed, hands folded in her lap. She looked so peaceful, albeit sad, that he almost didn't want to disturb her. He closed the door behind him, though, and her head snapped up, her blue gaze meeting his own.

Ed moved forward and sat next to her on the bed. He hadn't been this close to her since the roof, staying several feet away to watch her with rapt interest, and his sudden proximity had Winry's eyes glittering hopefully. Ed put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap, winning a surprised gasp from from Winry's lips.

Ed wrapped both of his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder and letting out a small sigh. "Mm, warm," he murmured. Winry's cheeks were blazing, but her embarrassment didn't slow her down a bit. She put her hands over Ed's where they interlocked over her stomach and ran her fingers over them. She explored the metal that she had crafted briefly, already knowing it intimately from her time building it, and then moved to his left hand, his human one. Ed fidgeted a bit when she started prying his fingers away from her to examine them with her fingertips.

"Ed, why did you say all that on the roof if you didn't mean it?" Winry whispered, fearing that this sudden display of affection was just an apology for leading her on.

"I did mean it," he murmured, rubbing his cheek contentedly against her neck. "Still do."

Winry gasped and whirled around in his lap so that she was sitting sideways. Her wide eyes met Ed's calm ones and she saw the truth in them. Twin suns glowing the same way they had when he'd kissed her.

"Prove it," Winry breathed. Ed stared at her for several more seconds, studying the striations in her eyes for a moment, and then pulled her close and kissed her. It was not nearly as passionate as their first, more gentle and tender. Winry felt a smile slowly working it's way onto her face, and Ed felt it too. He pulled his lips away from her mouth to whisper in her ear, "If you didn't think I loved you, then why'd you put up with me stalking you for a month?"

"Because I hoped I was wrong," she answered, pulling his lips back to hers forcefully. Ed growled playfully and rolled over, pressing Winry's back into the covers and kneeling over her.

"Deja vu," he muttered, grinning. Winry put on a mockingly stern face and said, "Get back down her and kiss me, you idiot, before I dismantle your automail." Ed laughed, shaking his head, and bent to brush his lips barely across Winry's.

"You don't have to tell me twice," he whispered.

X X X

"Hey lovebirds," Pinako snapped, "if you have nothing better to do than stare at each other you can go to the station and pick up our guest."

Ed turned his head grudgingly towards Pinako and asked, "Guest?"

"There's someone coming out today, and I want you to to go get him. And you'd better be nice to him, Edward Elric, or so help me, I'll see to it that you never grow another inch."

"Microscopic witch!" Ed growled.

"Pint-sized midget," Pinako retorted.

Winry took Ed's hand in hers, effectively stopping his rage, and smiled. "We can go together, Ed," she told him. Ed blinked, wondering how just that simple touch could erase all thought from his brain. Winry leaned in and whispered, "It's more private on the road than in the house, you know."

Ed was on his feet then, towing Winry towards the door. Den rose and trotted after them several steps, then stopped and returned to her bed when she saw that she was being ignored. Pinako shook her head, muttering about young love, and returned to her work.

Meanwhile, Al watched from Winry's room, where he'd taken up a watchful position from behind the curtains. He followed his brother and Winry with envious eyes as the moved down the path, fingers entwined as they took it in turns to drag each other forward. He shook his head regretfully, letting the curtains fall across his view. "If only I'd known it would turn out like this," he mumbled, "I would have got myself a girlfriend."

X X X

Ed and Winry walked the path to the station the way they had for years. They weren't close to each other, and they weren't doing anything romantic. There was no indication that the two were anything more than childhood friends. They walked a foot apart, chatting amiably about who the visitor could be.

"Maybe it's someone who needs automail," Winry guessed.

"Or someone from the military," Ed added, shuddering. If it was someone sent to retrieve him, they would be locked in the basement for quite a while. He had no intentions to leave Resembool in the near future.

"If it's someone from the military, what would they want in Resembool?" Winry asked, her tone skeptical.

"Could be someone that wants me and Al to come back and do our jobs," Ed explained, though he doubted it. They would have just called with an order rather than riding the train all the way out to Resembool.

"Or maybe it's Gracia," Winry said, smiling. "Maybe she came to visit. Elicia-chan's five now, so maybe she brought her."

"You never know," Ed murmured, picturing the brigadier general's wife and daughter standing on the platform, waving and smiling.

"Or maybe it's the Major," Ed muttered as an afterthought. The two teens shivered in unison, both picturing the enormous alchemist hugging them and crying and showing off his muscles.

They lapsed into silence, each lost in their own musings. Winry unconsciously reached out for Ed, and he took her hand without thinking. It was just something that they did now when they were thinking. Neither noticed, though if someone pointed it out they could remember taking the other's hand.

The walk to the station continued without incident, in silence. Winry slowly walked closer to Ed as they went, until their arms were brushing. Then closer, until she had her head resting on Ed's shoulder. Neither noticed, and neither would have wanted to step away if they had.

When they arrived at the platform, it was empty of both train and people. The staff were all there, but the train had not yet arrived. The couple stood in silence, waiting, listening to the distant whistle of the approaching train. The visitor was coming, unless they were on the next train, which arrived two hours later.

The conductor turned to look at the couple, gave them a once-over, and then nodded. Ed nodded back, wondering what the nod was for, and Winry glanced up at his face curiously. Ed shrugged his shoulder, the one that Winry wasn't leaning on.

The train pulled into the station then, before Winry had the chance to ask what the nod had been about. A single door opened, one person stepped out, and Ed's good mood instantly vanished.

"Hello, Fullmetal. Still short as ever, I see," Major General Roy Mustang sneered.

"Hey, Flame. Still a pompous bastard, like always," Ed retorted. Mustang's lip twitched in amusement as he strode forward to meet the two.

Roy frowned, suddenly noticing the beautiful blond clinging to Edward's arm. Winry stared back at Roy, not quite realizing that the way she held onto Ed meant that the two of them were together. She tightened her grip on Ed's hand involuntarily, and Ed responded with a gentle squeeze of his own.

"I see you got yourself a girlfriend, Fullmetal," Roy said, his voice sarcastic. Ed and Winry glanced at each other, cheeks reddening, and Winry started to pull away. Ed smiled at her, blush receding, and squeezed her hand again. Winry blinked and then returned her head to his shoulder, smiling. Roy raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and strode past the couple, beckoning for them to follow. The two glanced at each other before complying.

The walk back to the Rockbell house was quiet. Ed and Winry shared multiple glances, eyes filled with questions, but neither spoke.

"I would guess you're wondering why I came here, Fullmetal," Roy inferred as the house came into view. Ed started, then nodded. "You've been summoned to Central."

"What?!" Ed exploded. Just like he'd guessed. "But -- But -- !"

"Calm down, Fullmetal. It's just a transfer. You're not getting anything done out here."

"Why? I don't wanna go back yet. I'm on vacation."

"Your vacation's over. We need you to get back to work."

"That's not fair! This is my first vacation since I became a dog!"

"You're being promoted, so quit whining."

"Ed, that's great!" Winry said, pulling back to look at Ed's shocked face.

"Why am I being promoted now, when I haven't done anything important?" Ed asked slowly.

"Because I needed a reason to drag you back to Central," Roy replied cheerfully.

"Ah, so I'm not really promoted?" Ed questioned.

"No, you are. I promoted you to Colonel. And now I can haul you back to Central with it."

Ed went quiet, and Winry patted his arm gently. _I don't want to leave,_ Ed thought. _Not yet._ Winry frowned, noticing the sadness in Ed's face, and something dawned on her. Ed didn't want to go back to Central because he wanted to stay with her.

"Ed," she whispered, close enough to Ed's ear that Roy couldn't hear her voice. "I could come to Central with you," she offered. Ed twitched in surprise. "Then I could watch you work."

"But what if you get hurt?" Ed whispered back, his eyes worried.

"Come on, you don't seriously think I can't take care of myself, do you?" Winry muttered, her pride wounded.

"Bring Al and Ms. Rockbell with you," Roy called back, unaware that he had just answered their minor dilemma. The couple shared a glance, Winry pleased and Ed worried. Winry saw that despite his worried exterior his eyes were glowing.

No one spoke on the rest of the way, Roy silently mulling over Ed's sudden romance, Winry just enjoying her love's presence, and Edward fuming over the promotion. He hadn't joined the military for the ranks, and he never planned to move up. Mustang was using him for something, and it bothered him. But he was content to just walk along beside Winry for the time being. He would deal with the Flame Alchemist later.

When they arrived at the Rockbell house they found Al carrying a small stack of firewood towards the house. He stopped and set his load down before turning to greet Roy. The two spoke cordially, none of the antagonism evident in Ed and Roy's relationship present. Ed rolled his eyes and allowed Winry to tow him towards the house.

"Hello, Brigadier General," Al said calmly.

"Likewise, Alphonse," Roy replied, his expression neutral. The two stared at each other for a short moment before continuing.

"What brings you here, Brigadier General?" Al asked.

"If I can call you Alphonse you can just call me Roy," Mustang told him before answering, "I came to return your brother to his work. He's been promoted to Colonel, and Central beckons."

Alphonse whistled. "Two promotions in a year. Wow." He paused, thinking over the last part of Mustang's speech. "Central? But -- "

"Don't worry, Alphonse," Roy said, holding up one hand to stop Al. "You will be accompanying him, as well as Ms. Rockbell, if she wishes to come."

"Oh," Al said, staring at his shoes and thinking. If they were all three going, then maybe his brother could work and be with Winry, and he could protect them. Nothing could go wrong. Even if another alchemist killer, like Scar, appeared they would be fine. Hell, if homunculus appeared they would be fine.

"Alright, Brig- Roy," Al said, sounding awkward to be using the Brigadier General's first name. Roy smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. He leaned back a little, observing the teenager from a more casual stance. Al looked so different from his father and brother, his hair and eyes a much darker color. His hair was cut much shorter as well, and his gaze was much softer. He did not have the killer's eyes that his brother and father possessed, that Roy himself wore.

Alphonse stared back, his eyes criticizing the man. Roy Mustang was tall, dark haired, and wore a mask that kept his emotions hidden from the boy. But on closer inspection he found that his eyes burned, narrow and brooding, just like Ed's. Eyes that had seen death and horrors. Al was glad, just staring at those eyes, that he was not in the military; he would never be able to stare at world through eyes like those.

"Shall we?" Roy said suddenly, gesturing towards the house. Al started, then nodded, following the alchemist into the house.

X X X

"You're all leaving me again," Pinako clarified, tightening a screw on the new automail she was busy constructing. Winry nodded, feeling slightly guilty. Pinako burst out in laughter, shaking her head at whatever image was in her head.

"You all always think that leaving me is a bad thing. You're going off to Central, and you're acting like you've all caught the plague. It's a good thing. Ed's been promoted, and now you're all going off to do whatever it is you do for the military. Just be gone with you three and let me work," she grumbled. Ed and Winry shared a look, and Al cast a sharp glance at Roy. The Brigadier General was smirking, as if he found the whole exchange very funny.

"Go on, the next train leaves soon." Winry lunged forward to hug her tiny grandmother, and Pinako responded by patting Winry's arm gently. Ed watched the Rockbell women, smiling faintly, and Al watched his brother. Roy gazed out the window, feeling out of place in the family scene. It ended quickly, much to his relief, when Winry pulled out of the hug, grinned at her grandmother, and bounded up the stairs to pack. Edward rose from the couch, stretching his arms over his head, and followed Winry up the stairs. Al cast Mustang one last glance before hurrying after the two older teens.

Roy sat on the couch, watching Pinako work, smirk back in place now that the family scene had ended. Pinako pretended to ignore him, but after a moment, she started speaking to him over her shoulder.

"Were you the one that promoted Edward?" she asked, her eyes still on her work.

"Yes," he replied, unashamed. "We need his talents back in Central and I figured nothing but that would really get his attention. Taking hostages would've been a pain," he added.

Pinako continued her work in silence, pretending that she hadn't heard him, though secretly her stomach clenched in sympathy of the boy upstairs who bore the weight of so many on his shoulders.

X X X

"Al, could you bring me my suitcase?" Winry asked, pulling her clothes out and setting them in semi-neat piles to pack. Edward watched from where he lounged on her bed, smirking as he watched the two flutter about. Al seemed almost as excited as Winry did to be going to Central.

Al picked up the suitcase from where it lay across the room, the bottom covered in a thin layer of tools, and carried it back to Winry. She murmured thanks and lifted her clothes, setting them in the suitcase as neatly as she could. Al resumed his own packing, helping Winry gather up everything that she needed for her trip. Winry shooed him off after he brought her several more of her possessions, and he smiled at the two before heading off to pack for himself.

"You should pack too, Ed," Winry told him, clamping the suitcase closed and hefting it to test it's weight. Ed raised his eyebrows.

"I never unpacked in the first place," he told her calmly. "Most of my stuff's still in my bag, and if it's not it won't take me more than a minute to put it away." Winry shook her head, wondering why he never unpacked no matter where he went. He only ever brought with him the clothes that he wore the most, what he needed for simple maintenance, and several books. Winry couldn't function without some of her favorite possessions.

"Well, go then, and put everything in your suitcase," she ordered, shooing him away as well. Ed didn't budge.

"Ed, go!" she told him forcefully.

"Why can't I stay here?" he grumbled, sitting up.

"Because I'm changing!" she snapped, shaking a shirt at him. Ed's eyebrows raised and his lips twitched as he fought a smile.

"I'm not allowed to stay and watch?"

Winry hand flashed to her belt, only to find that her wrench was not there. Ed snickered, rising quickly to his feet and slithering from the room. Just as Winry found her wrench in the bottom of her back and hurled it at him he made it out the door. Winry shook her head, grinding her teeth, and pulled her shirt over her head. She listened to the reassuring creak of the stairs as she pulled her new one over her head, knowing that Ed really had left.

Ed hovered halfway down the stairway, glancing back towards Winry's door, very tempted to watch through her cracked-open door as she changed. Then he shook his head, a furious blush spreading over his cheeks, and stomped the rest of the way down.

X X X

The train arrived just as the four appeared, panting, at the station. Ed, hand wrapped firmly around Winry's, didn't pause, pulling her towards the nearest doors. Roy approached the ticket counter and bought the four tickets, and Al paused to catch his breath. The train whistled, a single passenger stepped off the train -- one of the sheep farmers who lived at Resembool, back from work in East City -- and the four new ones took their seats.

The train set off shortly after, much to the pleasure of Roy. Winry lay with her head on Ed's shoulder, tired from the run to the station, and Al and Roy sat across from them. It was quiet, no one talking about the summons or the promotion. There was plenty of eye-talk between the three men about Winry, curiosity in Roy's dark eyes, gentle protection and love in Ed's golden ones, and brotherly happiness in Al's wide, innocent eyes. They glanced from one to the other, sharing manly thoughts of Winry-ness for several minutes, until Ed spoke up.

"Don't even think about it, Flame," he said, putting his arm around Winry's shoulders. She glanced at Mustang, tried hard to disguise her lack of attraction and mild disgust and failed, and then tilted her head slightly to bite Ed's ear. He jumped, surprised, and couldn't help smiling when he saw Roy's jealous expression. Winry giggled, trying hard not to give away her amusement, and Al just looked between the three, his innocent eyes confused.

"What happened?" he asked. Roy looked away, out the window, and Winry was laughing too hard to answer. Edward merely shook his head.

"Nothing, Al," he told his brother, smiling.

X X X

**A/N: Tada!! Chapter two! Sorry if it doesn't live up to expectations, I needed a reason to get the three to someplace with a decent hospital and plenty of military employees lurking around. Try and figure that one out, it's a nice, juicy spoiler. Hehe. **

**Wow, I really thought I'd have put some Japanese in here. =scratches head thoughtfully= Oh well, plenty in the next chapter.**

**As always, review and enjoy please!**

**Ja ne!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Woot! Third chapter! I'm feeling pretty good about writing this fanfic, even though I'm not very satisfied with how quickly the two got together. . Oh well. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I love getting positive reviews, even negative criticism is welcome as long as you're not totally trashing me. Keep sending 'em in!**

**By the way, just to clarify, Roy wasn't wanting Winry in the last chapter. Ew. Someone brought it up, so I'll just explain his reaction to WinryxEd: he's jealous that the kid can be so happy with his girlfriend. Roy goes through women so fast and never stays with any of them for too long, and he's jealous. Ed misenterprets it this way: Roy Mustang is a pedophile. But he's not. Trust me, the only Roy romance I will ever put out there is RoyxRiza.**

**Just thought I'd clear that up.**

X X X

The house that the trio would be staying at was military housing, but it had a cozy feel to it. It had the same build as all of the other houses around, slender and several stories tall. It reminded Ed and Al of the house Sciezka had stayed in when they first rescued her from the book avalanche.

Winry zipped inside first, checking out every room quickly in search of the room she wanted to stay in. She didn't look long; on the second floor she found two bedrooms, one small and one large. She immediately claimed the smaller room and spent some time unpacking her luggage.

Roy had accompanied them to the house, but he left once the brothers began to head inside. He plodded off towards the headquarters, feeling sorry for himself. Fullmetal was happy, had a girlfriend that fit him perfectly, and would most likely have a very successful life. Roy had been like that when he first joined the military, full of energy and positivity, his goals for the future so clear in front of him. He would become the Fuhrer and make Amestris a good place to be. His eyes had been as innocent as Alphonse's, and he hadn't known of war. Then, when he was sent off to Ishbal, he lost the exuberant drive to continue. He couldn't even date without feeling slightly hopeless. It drove him crazy.

Colonel Hawkeye stood in front of the headquarters, watching her dog, Black Hayate, eat a piece of meat with a small smile. Roy realized it was lunchtime. He'd barely noticed. Riza looked up as he approached, and her eyes glowed a tiny bit. Roy smiled the smallest amount in return, a little relieved to see a familiar face after the long train ride.

"Brigadier General," she said, pulling a salute. Roy mirrored her, smirking. "Colonel," he replied.

"Colonel," she muttered, her tone thick with dark humor. When she noticed Roy's perplexed expression she explained. "You were the colonel not too long ago. Now I am. We really are moving up." Roy smiled, remembering his days as Colonel Mustang.

"Over a year, hard to believe as it is," he told her, putting an arm around her shoulders. Riza ignored him, trying to remember where the time had gone. Over a year already since she'd last called this man a colonel.

"Two since we got this thing," he added, nudging Hayate-gou with his boot. The black dog glanced up at him with intelligent eyes, labeled him as non-threatening, and returned to licking up the last of his meat.

"Don't you have paperwork to do?" Riza asked Roy, arching an eyebrow suspiciously. Roy sighed, dropping his arm.

"Yeah, I'm going," he grumbled, trudging up the stairs. Riza smirked, oddly reminded of a defiant child, and caught Hayate-gou's curious glance.

"He hasn't changed a bit," she told the dog. He blinked, as if asking her to elaborate. "He still can't do a thing without me."

Riza glanced over her shoulder at the black-haired man, finding that his eyes were fixed on hers as well. Roy turned around to continue up the steps, a trace of a smile ghosting his face, and Riza watched his back retreat.

X X X

Winry rolled over in her bed, struggling to get comfortable. She wasn't used to sleeping on the beds in Central, and she had a hard time getting to sleep. She couldn't hear any noise from the brothers' room next door to her, so she decided that she would be able to get up and wander around without disturbing either of them.

Winry padded into the kitchen in search of something to help her get to sleep, maybe hot milk, and stopped short when she noticed that there was someone else in the kitchen. There was a shadow leaning against the counter across the room. Winry felt her pulse race, imagining a robber or other person that would break into a house, but then relaxed when she heard a familiar snicker. Edward.

"Calm down, Win, it's me," he told her, watching her face. Moonlight slanted in through the only window, illuminating her shocked face, and Winry wished he would come over next to her so she could see him better. And for other obvious reasons.

Winry moved out of the moonlight, completely forgetting the reason she'd come into the kitchen in the first place, and slunk towards Ed. There was some kind of forbidden pleasure about slinking around at night, strange and childish as it was.

Ed pulled Winry into a hug as soon as she was close enough. Winry felt him almost trembling, and he seemed very frail in her arms. His breath whispered in her ear, a little faster than normal and shaky. Winry looked up slowly, trying to see his face in the darkness. She could barely make out the edges of his features, and found, to her surprise, that his brilliant gold eyes were wide and terrified. He was trembling with some kind of hidden emotion, his fearful eyes searching her face. Winry squeezed him comfortingly, wishing she could comfort whatever emotion had suddenly gripped him. He'd been fine when she'd first entered the room, laughing and joking. What was wrong with him?

"I'm scared, Winry," he whispered, admitting fear to her for one of the first times in his life. Winry looked up in surprise. He would never have told her anything like that before.

"Why?" she asked, searching his bright eyes for a small shred of comfort.

Ed pulled Winry into a sudden kiss, startling her. He squeezed her tightly, until her bones almost creaked, but Winry couldn't feel it. This was the most forward he'd ever been with her before. The few times they had kissed since they'd gotten together had been small, sweet, and innocent. But this kiss was deep and heavy and made her whole body tingle all the way to her bones. Winry gasped, shocked at the sudden smooch, but quickly melted into it. Her mind was on auto-pilot: this was Ed, who she loved, and she was kissing him. Her body did the rest, while her mind wordlessly screamed pleasure and excitement.

Ed whispered lightly against her lips in answer to her question, "I don't know how to do this."

Winry's breath hitched as she realized what Ed meant. She smiled and pulled his lips back to hers. Ed was hesitant now, his earlier passion diminished with the admonition of his fear. Winry knotted her fingers in his hair, which, to her surprise, hung free down his back.

Ed may not have known what he was doing, but Winry certainly did.

Winry's tongue darted into Ed's mouth, teasing a reaction from him. His rapid heartbeat stuttered, and he gasped. Winry almost wanted to laugh at his surprised reaction, but decided against it. That wouldn't encourage Ed that he was doing okay. Instead she ran the tip of her tongue over his bottom lip, pressing slightly. Ed shuddered and his grip around Winry tightened. He spun around so that Winry's back was to the wall, not his own, and pressed her against the sheetrock. His eyes glimmered with worry, curiosity, and a bit of fear. Winry met his gaze evenly, urging him to continue, and saw the grudging decision in his eyes. He planted his left hand on the wall beside Winry's head slowly, caressing the side of her face with his other. Winry shivered at the touch of cold metal, but smiled gently at Ed. He drew a deep breath and slowly pressed his lips to Winry's cheeks, first one side and then the other. Winry smiled softly, almost frustrated when Ed pulled away. She'd known nothing would happen. Ed was a careful, intelligent guy. He wasn't going to change dramatically in one night.

"Come on, Win," he murmured, his voice gentle. He held one hand out slowly for her, and she took it, moving equally slow. She felt tired, now that the adrenaline had left her system. She went willing when Ed led her up the stairs and into her room. She curled up on her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin, and watched Ed. He stood in the doorway of her room, watching her with tender eyes. Winry blinked several times slowly, attempting to make the picture change so that Ed was sitting beside her. And after several seconds, it did.

Winry smiled triumphantly when Ed sighed and trudged into her room. He pulled the chair out from her desk across the room and sat in it wearily. What he really wanted was to be able to hold her, just hold her. He was tired and confused and wanted the morning to come so he could go the the HQ and return some semblance of normalcy to his life. But instead he just sat there, watching Winry, feeling like some kind of stalker or peeping tom.

Winry pulled one hand out from under the covers and took Ed's hand from where it lay on his knee. His right hand, which she had made herself. She smiled gently, proudly, feeling the screws and metal joints that she knew so very well. Ed watched, surprised. Winry's thumb traced the pattern of metal on the back of his hand slowly, the tempo gradually decreasing until her hand fell away. Shock and terror seized Ed. Images flashed before his eyes: his mother, laying sick in bed, holding both his and Al's hands. She whispered that she wanted a ring of flowers, and then her limp hand fell away. Ed was on his feet, eyes widening. Then Winry's slender body rose and fell slowly with the even tempo of dreamless sleep. Ed collapsed in his chair, legs too weak to support him, and let his face fall into his hands. His body shook with silent grief, wracked by tremors beyond his control. His eyes miraculously remained dry. Edward Elric did not cry.

When the sun rose in the morning, effectively waking Winry, she found that she was not alone. Ed lay on top of the covers beside her, his arms around her. Her cheek was pressed to his warm chest, and she could hear his heartbeat. His sputtering, uneven heartbeat.

Winry sat up quickly, shock in her eyes. She was not shocked that her boyfriend had flopped down next to her the night before and fallen asleep. Not shocked from the memories of the night before, in the kitchen. She was shocked by the sound of his heartbeat, the sound of a dieing man.

"Al!" she yelled, her hand flying to Ed's forehead. Footsteps pounded on the first floor, Al rushing to see what was wrong. Winry ripped her hand away in shock: Ed's face felt like a furnace. As she watched, desperately trying to remember any medical things she knew about that might help him and failing. Al's familiar breathing reached her ears, heavy from racing up the stairs. He drew in a gasp when he saw his brother stretched out on Winry's bed. He glanced at Winry, and his cheeks blazed at the shocked and terrified look in her eyes.

"Er, Winry, what happened?" he asked. Winry shot the younger Elric a glare before beckoning him over.

"I woke up this morning and he was burning up. His heartbeat's irregular too."

"I'm not surprised," Al said. Winry stared at him, trying to decipher his meaning through the screaming haze of fear that clouded her brain. Then understanding set in: Al thougt that Winry and Ed were far enough in their relationship to actually _do_ something.

Al clutched his head as Winry smacked him as hard as she could.

"Al, be reasonable! Ed and I didn't do anything, okay? I went to sleep last night and he sat in here with me. When I woke up, he was lying next to me and . . . this!" she finished, gesturing at Ed. His fists were clenching, his jaw working as he grit his teeth together in pain. But somehow he wasn't conscious.

"Ed? Edward?" Winry asked, tugging on the bottom hem of his pants. Ed made no move in response, merely twitching every now and then in pain. She cast Al a worried glance and beckoned for him to do something.

"Nii-san?" Al called, taking Ed's left hand and pulling on it. "Aniki? Nii-san?" Ed once again made no response.

"I'm calling an ambulence," Winry whispered, darting from the room in search of a phone. Alphonse grabbed his brother's shoulders and shook him, tears pricking at his eyes.

"Nii-san!" he yelled, shaking his brother violently in an attempt to wake him from whatever horrible thing he was seeing in his closed lids. Ed's eyes twitched open, and his golden eyes jerked to Al's face. Recognition glimmered in them, but the clenching and twitching continued throughout his body. He doubled over on himself and moaned, his eyes darting around wildly before landing on Alphonse again.

"Nii-san? Where does it hurt?" Al whispered. Ed brought his fists to his temples, digging his knuckles in as hard as he could.

"G-gonna explode," he muttered, his jaw bulging as he ground his teeth around the words. Al's eyes flew open. That didn't sound good.

Winry appeared in the doorway, her wide eyes lighting on Ed. He twisted his head around, struggling desperately to see her face, and the ghost of a smile touched his features when he saw her. Then a grimace replaced it and he rolled back over, curling tightly into a spasming ball. Winry raced to his side, whispering in alarm to herself. "He'll be okay," she breathed, her pulse spiking when her fingers brushed against his sweat-soaked shirt. "He has to be."

Al rushed to the window, glancing out at the bright lights flashing from several streets over. He breathed a tiny sigh of relief. The ambulance Winry had called was coming. They would always rush to help the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Winry," he called over his shoulder, drawing the fearful blond's eyes to the window. She saw the lights flashing in the distance and let herself relax a little bit. He really would be okay. They would help him.

"Al, go get me a cloth and some cold water," she ordered, her medical knowledge kicking in now that she knew the ambulance would arrive soon. "Try and calm down, too," she added, seeing the wild light in his eyes. Al closed his eyes briefly, nodded, and hurried from the room.

Winry turned to her boyfriend, stroking his bangs out of his face. His eyes rolled to meet her gaze, and there was pleading, anguish, and torture in his gaze. He reached a hand for her, clenching his other hand tightly to his head, and Winry took it gently. She stroked his palm soothingly, trying to remember anything that might help him.

Al arrived then, looking visibly calmer and carrying a dripping cloth. Winry took it and pressed it to Ed's forehead. He struggled away from the cold touch, but she held the back of his head firmly. Ed's eyes pleaded with her, begging her to help him, and she whispered softly, "This will help." Ed stopped resisting, clenching his fists and trembling as he leaned into the cloth. He shuddered at the cold, but the angry pulse in his wrist calmed the tiniest bit. Winry smiled in triumph as his twitches lessened. He still looked to be in a great deal of pain, but the icy water was lowering his temperature and reducing the sweat he gave off . . .

The front door slammed against the wall and medical personnel bounded up the stairs, brushing Al aside. Winry tried to step back to give them space, but Ed's fingers tightened around her hand. His eyes met her own, looking very calm and demanding.

"Stay," he whispered, so much pain loaded into that one word. Winry glanced at the white-clad men in question, and they nodded. She squeezed his hand back and said quietly, "I won't leave, Ed. I promise." Ed's face relaxed a little, and the medics lifted his limp body into a stretcher. Winry almost burst into tears.

Then she noticed the shallow rise and fall of his chest, the way his eyelids and fingers twitched as if he were fighting the pain in unconsciousness. Her legs buckled beneath her, and a familiar hand caught and steadied her. Winry glanced up and saw a watery brunette swimming in her vision.

"It'll be okay, Winry," the man said. "Brother's a survivor." Winry nodded and allowed Al to help her to her feet, leading her from the room and down the stairs. The medics almost wouldn't let them ride in the ambulance, but backed off when Winry drew her wrench from her pocket (she had never taken off her sweatpants off before going to bed before, thank goodness). Al followed with a shrug for the bewildered medics, who rushed the boy from the scene as quickly as they could. The sun had just cleared the horizon when the ambulance arrived at the Central HQ hospital.

"What happened?" Riza gasped, passing on her way to Fuery's room (the man had managed to trip and fall down three flights of stairs two days before trying to stop Hayate-gou from chasing a kitten). Winry glanced up at the colonel as she passed, tottering behind the men with Ed's stretcher, and she shrugged.

"I just woke up this morning and . . ." she whispered, her voice weak. Riza stepped up to the young blond and held her while she cried.

"It'll be alright, Winry," she murmured, stroking the girl's hair.

"You don't know that," Winry sniffled, her voice muffled in Riza's uniform.

"Sure, I do. He probably just had food poisoning or something," Riza said comfortingly.

"He said it was his head that hurt, and he was trying to kill himself in his sleep," Winry whispered, theatricality over-exaggerating the event to make it more extreme to the colonel. She couldn't explain why, but she wanted the woman to admit that Ed might die. She wanted comfort, but she didn't want to be comfort_ed_.

"Winry, the doctors and surgeons here will be able to make him well again. Whatever is wrong with Edward is nothing they can't handle."

"You don't understand," she wailed. "People die. My mom and dad died, and they were just helping people! What if he doesn't make it?"

Riza pushed the girl away and held her at arms length by the shoulders. Winry met her gaze with blue eyes blazing with terror and grief. She shook Winry, attempting to jar some sense into her, but the younger blond just shook limply in her grip.

"Winry, get a grip on yourself. Edward is going to be fine. Do you hear me? Fine. Absolutely fine. And if he's not, well, you can shoot me."

Winry's eyes lit up with surprise at that. Some semblance of sense settled over her and she smiled, sniffing and trying to stop the tears rolling down her face. "I guess you're right," she whispered. "Okay."

The young girl collapsed helplessly on the floor and refused to move. Riza sighed, scooped the girl up, and plopped her in a waiting room chair.

"Stay there. I'm going to go visit Kain, and when I get back I want you to still be there. Okay? Then we can go see Edward together." Winry hesitated before nodding, and Riza departed only half satisfied.

As soon as Riza had rounded the corner, Winry was on her feet, striding in the direction of the room Ed had been taken to. She's promised Ed she would stay with him, and she wasn't about to break that promise just because Riza Hawkeye had asked her to stay in the lobby. She'd never promised the colonel anything. When she came back and found Winry gone, she'd know right where to find her.

When Winry reached Ed's room, she found the door closed and the sounds of murmuring hospital employees coming from inside. They must have been searching for what had caused the teenager pain. Winry sighed and slumped against the wall, wishing she could be in there with him without getting in the way of the doctors.

Minutes passed, Then an hour. More time. Winry ended up sitting on the floor once her shaking legs gave out. Still time passed. Winry didn't move from that spot. Breakfast time came and went, and the sun rose in the sky. Then, finally the door creaked open and Winry found herself staring into the droopy eyes of a doctor who reminded her oddly of a Basset hound.

"What's wrong with him?" Winry asked immediately, putting on her "game face" that she wore when attaching automail. She could block out their screams of pain with a cold expression, keeping herself whole. It only worked for a short while, but it would get her through whatever he had to say.

"We haven't found anything wrong with him," the doctor answered, his droopy eyes sparkling. "It was probably something emotional, some kind of trauma in his past. If too much negativity builds up in a person's brain it can do damage. Has anything bad happened in his past?"

Winry looked away, her mask slipping. She sucked in a deep breath before answering. "Both his parents died, along with quite a few of his friends. He and Al have seen a lot of bad things in their short lives." The doctor looked a little surprised, but didn't ask questions. He merely gestured for her to enter the room and departed with a clip board, scratching his head.

Winry peeked through the crack in the door before entering. She could see nothing of Ed except for a stretch of rumpled blanket at the foot of his bed. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Ed was laying on the hospital bed, propped up as if he were just leaning back for a short nap. The corners of his mouth were turned down slightly in a pained grimace, and his fingers twitched every few seconds, itching to curl into fists. Winry stopped several feet from him, staring at him blankly as if keeping her face calm would make the picture before her go away. She slowly stretched out one hand and stroked Ed's bangs from his cheek, a single tear falling to strike the white blanket as she did. Ed didn't awaken from his sleep, but his face turned towards her a fraction and he mumbled, "Winry . . ."

Winry smiled softly to herself and retreated to a chair several yards away where she could watch the young alchemist without disturbing him. He turned several times, his hands occassionally rising an inch or less, as he breathed her name. Then, after a while, he stopped moving around altogether and merely slept, breathing evenly. The pain eased from his face and his expression became innocent and gentle. Winry was oddly reminded of her dream a month before, of the playful Ed in the meadow. She smiled softly to herself before drifting off herself.

**A/N: This chapter took longer than I thought. School started literally a page in, and then I was so overcome with a new school and new people that it took me about a week before I even started again. I finally found the time to finish it. Please don't kill me for the short length or crappy quality.**

**Yes, in my mind Hohenheim is DEAD. I believe that when they go to fight the Homunculi in the next few chapters Hohenheim will die, because somebody has to and I refuse to let the brothers go. Sorry, Hohenheim fans. I like him too.**

**Now you see where the big and important hospital becomes helpful. It's helpful later, too, but this is the first time a big and important hospital is required. See, my spoilers make sense! **

**I realized while writing this that in every chapter so far Ed and Winry make out at least one time. That is very depressing. None of my previous fanfics ever had this much gooeyness. Why does the first one I actually post have to be such a marshmallow-fluffy one? Grr.**

**I don't know if they have ambulances or Basset hounds or the equipment needed to figure out what's wrong with him, but whatever. It's my Fanfic, deal with it. And yes, I am aware that this entire chapter is thoroughly dumb and without point. This chapter was actually created just because someone figured out what I was going to do in Central and I strove to prove them wrong. Yes, egotistical. No, not smart. It means more writing before I get to the part of the story I actually want to write. Oh well.**

**[Japanese Translations]**

**Nii-san and Aniki both mean "big brother." Al usually says Nii-san when referring to Ed, but I threw in Aniki because I think it sounds more friendly. Don't ask why.**

**Please wait excitedly for the fourth chapter! Ja ne!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you, everyone, for all the favorites, reviews, and all the other nice things you do for me! I really don't deserve it at all. Every time I get an e-mail that says something like "new review" or "new add alert" I want to explode. You guys are the reason I get through every day.**

**And reading the original Fullmetal, but there's just not enough EdXWinry so. Yes.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Hagaren, Ed and Winry would have already gotten together. And Winry would probably find out she was pregnant in the next chapter. XD Gomene, Arakawa-san.**

XXX

Winry heard her name being called as if from a distance, echoing and barely registering in her mind. She vaguely remembered where she was - the hospital - but couldn't quite remember why. Her mind struggled to register the familiar voice with her memories of before she fell asleep. Slowly, the pieces fell together, and she sat up straight, eyes snapping wide open.

Ed was sitting up in his hospital bed, watching her with a small smile. He looked fine. Not at all as if he'd been going crazy with pain earlier that day. And it had been earlier that day, Winry noted as she glanced at the sunset slanting through the window. She'd slept for several hours.

"Finally, you're up," Ed said, drawing her attention back to him. He was rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, as if it still hurt, but stopped when Winry's eyes fixed on the movement.

"I'm fine, Win," he assured her, waving a hand as if he could blow away her worries.

"You didn't look fine this morning," she mumbled back. Ed didn't reply.

There was a knock on the door and the two blonds glanced over to see who could be coming to visit now. Then Winry remembered Hawkeye earlier, ordering her to stay seated in the lobby, and she wanted to melt into a puddle as she pictured the colonel bursting through the door, gun drawn.

The door opened and Alphonse stepped into the room, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "I'm not doing human transmutation on that idiot if he dies." Ed frowned and scratched the familiar scar above his right eyebrow, trying to make sense of the jumble of words that reached him. The motion drew Al's eyes to him.

"Nii-san!" Al said, delight lighting up his face. "They said you wouldn't recover for days, judging by the amount of pain you were in."

Ed shrugged. "They never take into account the strength of an alchemist," he replied proudly, holding out a thumbs up to Al. Al grinned in response.

"Al, you didn't happen to see the colonel on your way in, did you?" Winry asked nervously. The young alchemist turned, eyebrows arching upwards as he noticed her presence. He shook his head after a moment.

"One of the nurses was complaining about crowd control and violent military staff, though," he said jokingly. Winry suppressed a small shudder at the mental image and rose from her chair. She would find and apologize to Riza now. Riza was one of the people she was the most friendly with in Central, and she didn't want to ruin their relationship.

"I'll be back in a minute," she called over her shoulder as she strode from the room. Ed and Al watched her silently, bemused expressions on their faces.

"You've changed, Nii-san," Al told Ed, breaking the small silence. Ed blinked up at him for a moment before saying, "Nani?"

"Ever since you and Winry . . . got together you've only had eyes for her. You were really different. I don't know, you just seem back to normal now."

"Do I?" Ed asked, scratching his jaw in thought. He hadn't noticed any change.

"Now, while she's gone," Al muttered, slowly closing the door and spinning the lock with a muted _click_. Ed brought his hands close to each other in preparation to transmute as visions of Envy in his brother's skin danced across his vision. If it turned out the teenager in front of him was the hermaphrodite homunculus [**Teehee, I made a funny**] he would kill him. Sure, they'd killed all the homunculus when they brought back Al's body, but you never knew.

"What have you and Winry done?!" Al exploded, suddenly in his brother's face. "You've gotta tell me, Nii-san! I'm in the dark here!"

Ed blinked in surprise; this was not at all what he'd been expecting. He smiled slowly, realizing that Al actually wanted to hear about him and Winry despite the fact that they'd argued many times over who Winry liked the most.

"Uh, not much," Ed admitted, glancing away in embarrassment. "I've only kissed her a couple times, Al," he muttered. Al stared open-mouthed at his brother in astonishment.

"I can't believe you, Nii-san!" Al hissed, eyes wide. "You've been waiting for this chance for _years_ and when you finally get it you don't even do anything! I thought you were more 'ready, fire, aim' than that."

"Ha, ha," Ed muttered, glancing away. Al rolled his eyes, then stomped back to the door and unlocked it.

X X X

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so friggin short, I got sick and swamped with school projects and fell into a depression and . . . yeah. A lot of stuff has been holding me back lately from writing anything that's not super angsty and depressing. So please forgive me and wait patiently while I finish another chapter. **

**Nii-san = Older Brother, Gomene = I'm sorry, okay?, Nani = What?  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I finally finished this God-awful chapter. -_- I'm such a procrastinator with this, and I've been working on my manga and an anime that I'm making for school so I haven't had much time to work on this. Gomen nasai nya.**

**Thanks again for all the people who +faved this and reviewed, it makes my day. It also gives me enough guilt to keep writing. XD Keep sending in the reviews, folks.**

X X X

Roy stomped through the halls, trying desperately to appear businesslike despite the anger bubbling in his stomach. Where was Hawkeye when he needed her?

He rounded another corner and felt a small burst of relief when he saw the blond-haired colonel sitting on a bench. Then a flicker of exasperation at the equally blond head beside hers. Hawkeye was not alone, which did not suit Roy's purposes at all.

Hawkeye rose when she spotted him, throwing a salute. "Brigadier general," she murmured, a small smile quirking her smooth expression at the words.

"I need to speak with you, Hawkeye," he told her, sending Winry a meaningful glance. The mechanic hopped hastily to her feet, muttered a swift "sumimasen" and disappeared into a hospital room several yards down the hall.

"Riza," Roy muttered once he was sure the hallway was clear, "what are we doing about Fullmetal?"

"Doing?" Riza asked, perplexed.

"He has an unknown malady that is appearing to be incurable. He has a mission send-off in three days. It's not like I can postpone it, even with my rank, but at this rate when he leaves it will be in horrible condition."

"Roy, have you visited Edward since he was examined by the doctors?" Riza asked calmly, finally understanding.

"Well, no," he admitted.

"Just today he woke up completely fine, back in full health, and the only reason he's not bothering to leave is because Winry insisted on him staying her for another check-up. Once he has the all-clear he'll be ready for his mission."

"O-oh," Roy stammered. "No one had told me about it, so I just assumed . . ."

"That's one of your flaws," Riza sighed, taking one of Roy's hands and giving it a gentle squeeze. She smiled at her superior, turned, and followed Winry into Ed's room.

Roy stared after her, confused, his now-empty hand held aloft.

X X X

"Winry, seriously, I'm fine," Ed complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We don't know that for sure," Winry told him, unfolding his arms to straighten out his right hand. She inspected the joints, tightening the screws excessively.

"If I feel fine, I'm probably fine," Ed muttered, glancing out the window. He wanted to be out there, maybe fighting or retrieving some various alchemic research under fake orders. The old stuff. He couldn't really do much of it with the homunculi all dead.

"At least let the doctor look you over!" Winry ordered, punctuating her sentence with a particularly sharp twist of her screwdriver. Ed winced at the shock that traveled through the metal. She was pissed, for sure. No doubt about it.

"When they looked me over before they found nothing wrong," Ed complained. "If I was in normal condition _then_ then I'm in normal condition _now_. Come on, Win, lighten up. Please?"

Winry glanced up at him, trying to keep a hold of her anger. If she wasn't careful it would slip away and she would end up forgiving him when he clearly didn't deserve forgiveness.

"You're stubborn, you know that?" she mumbled, releasing his hand and tucking her screwdriver into its usual hiding place. When he said things like that it was hard to stay mad at him.

Ed reached out with his left hand to take one of Winry's, his face covered with panic at the thought of making her sad. Al would kill him if Winry cried at his expense again. "Hey," he breathed, trying to get her to look up. Her bangs hung in her face and shielded her expression from him. "Please don't be sad, Winry. What did I say?"

Riza, who was standing in the corner, turned and left the room to give the teens some privacy.

Winry scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. _Oh, shit,_ he thought. _Al's gonna kill me for sure._

"It's not something you said," she mumbled.

"Then what is it?"

"It's something I'm afraid of."

Ed pulled her into a hug, wishing there was some better way to comfort her than this.

"Ed," Winry whispered into his shirt, "the doctor's don't know what's wrong. I don't know what's wrong. I'm scared. What if you're dieing? How would we know?"

Ed tightened his grip around her, wondering the same things. If he died, Winry and Al would be wrecks. For all he knew, Al might try human transmutation again although he knew it wouldn't work. But then again, how did he know, how did any of them ever know, when he was dieing? Maybe it was just some weird head trauma. Did he hit it on something? He couldn't remember.

"Brother's fine," a familiar voice called from the door. Ed looked over Winry's head in surprise, and she twisted around to glance at the intruder.

"You really shouldn't worry, Winry," Al told her, lacing his fingers together behind his head. "Brother's been through a lot more than that. He won't die so easily." A grin dragged up the corners of his mouth in a way that seemed almost devious. "Nothing can kill the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Winry felt a small glow of hope at Al's words. Maybe Ed really would be okay. She had to keep thinking that, right?

Al draped his arms over the two blonds, his expression resembling a lazy cat. "Now, does anyone know when the cafeteria opens?"

X X X

Later that evening, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was released from the hospital. He was cleared with perfect health.

X X X

Roy approached the house where Fullmetal & Company were staying. He didn't really want to break Edward away from the other two just hours after his hospital release, but it was his duty. After all, he'd lost at rock, paper, scissors. He took a deep breath and knocked on the front door.

After nearly a minute the door creaked open, a very harried Alphonse on the other side. His left eye was twitching slightly and his hair and clothes were a mess. He paused to assess Mustang for a moment, then shook his head and stepped back to let the man in.

"What's wrong, Alphonse?" Roy asked the nerve-wracked teen.

"You don't want to know," he muttered, slinking into the kitchen. Roy watched him go uncertainly before trudging slowly up the stairs. He wondered for a moment what could be causing Al to act like that, but decided not to dwell too long on it. He had to inform Ed of his impending mission send-off the next day.

He reached Fullmetal's room and twisted the knob. Inside the room was empty. For a moment he found that strange, but then he decided that the alchemist was in Winry's room getting his automail checked. After all, what else did the teen have to do in Central?

He opened the door to Winry's room but stopped himself with the door just a few inches open. Two different shades of blond hair were intermingling at the head of Winry's bed. Roy closed the door quietly, turned around, and left the house with his face the color of a tomato.

Al hid in the pantry of the kitchen, muttering, "I told him he didn't want to know."

**A/N: I finally dids it. Finally. I feel special. :D**

**Ah. I just realized that people find it weird for these peoples ^point^ to be speaking Japanese every once in a while. 0_0 It's because the manga and anime were originally in Japanese, so the characters have some Japanese mannerisms that really can't be thrown out without Americanising them completely. So I leave them there for personal enjoyment. -w-**

**Translations:**

**Sumimasen = pardon me, my apologies, excuse me, etc.**


End file.
